HASD lifts restrictions

District will not limit guest attendance at graduation; ceremony set for June 3

Hollidaysburg Area Senior High graduates and their families will not be limited on how many guests they can bring to commencement in June.

Superintendent Robert Gildea told the Hollidaysburg Area School Board during a special meeting Wednesday that Gov. Tom Wolf's decision to lift most COVID-19 restrictions on May 31 will allow for more guests at the commencement ceremony in early June. The last day of school is June 3.

Gildea noted that social-distancing and mask-wearing will continue to be in effect for the foreseeable future, including at graduation.

The contact tracing requirement also has not changed. When a positive case is reported, administration must contact trace to identify anyone who was within 6 feet of the infected person for 15 or more minutes.

"I am well aware that this requirement has caused frustration for our students and their families," Gildea said in a letter to parents. "Our administration shares that frustration. We have found very little evidence of COVID transmission between individuals when students are masked."

Gildea added he would "continue to implore the Department of Health to make common sense changes to the contact tracing mandate."